Title: Fine Cuisine
Author: Shirahime
Rating: PG
Pairing: Lecter & Graham
Word Count: 997
Summary: Will finds himself a guest for dinner at the doctor’s house. No real spoilers.




Hannibal had just finished the sauce for the roast when the doorbell rang. Turning off the heat from under the pot, Lecter headed out of the kitchen and through the dining room toward the front door. He was hardly surprised to see the form of Will Graham standing on the front porch, although he was able to affect an excellent facsimile of it.

“Will,” Lecter greeted. “It’s nice to see you. Is there anything that I can help you with?” He stepped away from the door somewhat, a welcoming arm stretched out toward the interior of the home

“I’m sorry to bother you,” the younger man told him as he stepped inside past the doctor. “I was hoping that you’d have time to go over-” Will’s words trailed off as he caught the aroma of a freshly cooked meal. “I’m so sorry – I must be interrupting you,” he said apologetically.

“Don’t be silly,” Lecter assured him. “Helping you on a case is never a problem for me.” He eyed Will for a moment before saying. “Would you like some dinner? There’s plenty for two.”

“I really don’t want to impose,” Will started, but the rest of what he’d intended to say died on his lips as he watched Lecter’s expression shift to one of disappointment. “Well, I am hungry.”

Graham found himself led toward the dining room after the doctor took his coat and placed the file that he’d been holding on a table near his study. Graham eyed his surroundings as he seated himself. The dining room was elegantly decorated. He had rarely been in such surroundings and found that he felt slightly out of place. The doctor placing a warm hand on his shoulder before leaving to retrieve dinner from the kitchen made Will feel more at ease.

He hoped that his stomach didn’t growl too loudly as Hannibal placed the platter and other items on the table. Will hadn’t had time for a real lunch earlier in the day. Coffee and a previously forgotten candy bar in his jacket pocket had hardly been much of a meal. So such fine cuisine that Lecter began to serve was a welcome sight. The doctor smiled at him briefly before beginning to slice through the roast on the platter with a sharp knife, steel sliding through the meat as one would through butter. The meat looked succulent, but Will found that he couldn’t really identify it. It was too pale to be beef, but darker than pork. Veal perhaps?

“This looks delicious, Dr. Lecter,” Will found himself saying as the older man set the plate in front of him. “But I’m afraid that a meal like this would be wasted on someone like me. It’s more suited for the higher circles that you usually travel in.” He watched the doctor grasp the wine bottle on the table nearby.

“Nonsense,” Lecter told Will, glancing at him before popping the cork of the bottle and tilting it to pour dark red liquid into Will’s wine glass. “One should always try new things. And I’m not interested in dining with the orchestra board tonight.” He placed a hand on Graham’s shoulder that lingered just long enough to still be considered merely friendly. “Right now, I’d like nothing better than to dine with you.”

Will smiled broadly as he watched Lecter take a seat opposite him before gazing down at the meal elegantly displayed on fine china. He could feel the doctor’s eyes on him as he sank a fork into the tender meat, drawing his knife across it. Will brushed off the intense gaze of the other man as Lecter being anxious to see how the meal was to his guest’s taste. He was at least partly right. A smile spread across the doctor’s face as the younger man pushed the fork past white teeth into his waiting mouth. He noted how Will chewed tentatively before his eyes lit up. Hannibal could almost sense the way that the morsel melted in the other’s mouth, pleasure igniting across taste buds.

“It’s delicious,” Will told him. “Is this veal? I’ve never had any that tasted as good as this.” He cut another piece, the fork guiding the meat upward to be drawn off the utensil with tongue and lips. The doctor had so many talents, and Will was glad to be treated to a particularly tasty one of them.

Hannibal smiled at him faintly from across the table, picking up his utensils to eat his meal. “It’s all in the preparation, Will. I’m glad that you enjoy it.”

The men made amiable conversation over dinner. Will pushed out of his mind the particularly gruesome case that the two of them would go over at dinner’s end. The body of a salesman who’d been alive not so long ago had been found missing several large sections of flesh along with several organs. More than what was usually taken from the victims of the Chesapeake Ripper - that and other details of the crime made Graham wonder if it was the same culprit or a copycat.

Hannibal examined Will over the rim of his wine glass as he took a sip, alcohol warming his tongue. He could see the play of emotions on the other man’s face, though Will tried to hide it, tried to push unpleasantness aside so that he could enjoy this respite from the horrors of his job that he’d found in Lecter’s company this night. Looking up from his plate, Will smiled faintly when he noticed Hannibal’s scrutiny, a gesture that the older man returned. The idea that Lecter had had two days prior had borne fruit so nicely, bringing the young FBI profiler to him in even more pleasant circumstances than he’d thought it would. Salesmen could be so annoying when they were on your doorstep, pestering you for entry to your home. But marinated and served with saffron rice and a nicely aged wine, they were divine.


End.